Replies

1. 
   doorboy | Aug 27, 2007 05:29pm | #1

   The stock answer would be to work on a couple of maple sample blocks until you get a decent match. I think you CAN come pretty close to the walnut in this case. My rule of thumb is to start a little light and add a darkening tint until you reach an approximate match.

   "She wrote a long letter, on a short piece of paper." Traveling Wilburys
1. 
   noviceneil | Aug 27, 2007 05:36pm | #2

   I don't have alot of experience with finishing ( hence the name) and usually use oil finishes...I have used shellac and gel stains....would wood dye be a better way to go?

   Neil

   "I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy" -tom waite

1. 
   forestgirl | Aug 27, 2007 07:14pm | #3

   I'm with you on this one, Neil.  Maple certainly can be made dark (ebonizing it, for example) but given its blotching tendencies, I suspect dye is the way to go.  Most people I've talked to prefer to stay away from maple if one wants a dark wood in the end.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-) 

2. 
   SteveSchoene | Aug 27, 2007 08:38pm | #4

   You can get a pretty close color match on maple, but never really get it to look like walnut because the pore and grain structures are so different. 

   Dyes would be the way to go I think--as was mentioned the blotching tendency of maple is reduced, although not entirely eliminated, with dye.  One way around that is to use dye to establish the basic color and darkness, then seal that with dewaxed shellac, and use a non-penetrating stain (gel stain) to adjust the final coloration and to add some depth.  It's going to take lots of sample boards of the same wood to work this all out, and it is a must that you try each finish alteration, from start to finish. 

   Personally I like the contrast between maple and walnut and would be looking closely to see if I liked that look, and whether making the maple so much darker could darken the feel of the room too much. 

1. 
   noviceneil | Aug 27, 2007 10:15pm | #5

   Steve,

   I agree with you on the beauty of the contrast and have made several projects with walnut drawers and maple carcase...has always turned out well....since there are three large windows and the door is mostly glass darkening the room won't be an issue but the more I think about it, just darkening the maple a bit is probably the way to go. Thanks for everyone's input.

   Neil

2. 
   frenchy | Aug 27, 2007 11:14pm | #6

   Steve,

    I'm in total agreement with you, far better to have a good contrast than a poor match..

    No way will maple ever be mistaken for walnut..  Walnut isn't just brown, it's pruple and red and yellow and green etc.. another words it's not monochromatic.  Not just brown..

     I'm tempted to be crude and suggest a decent shelf paper but in effect that's what a dye job will amount to.. Far better to buy a walnut veneer and apply that.